


who has seen the wind?

by Lliyk



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Enemies to Friends, F/F, F/M, Forgiveness, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Magic, Romance, WIP
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:26:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23327719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lliyk/pseuds/Lliyk
Summary: freedom (n) :the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. (kagura runs into kagome. an alliance forms in the aftermath.)“hey, kagura?” the miko wheezed behind the demon’s firm hold. kagura watched with rapt attention as the girl’s pruned fingers wrapped around her clothed wrist, as her wild blue stare suddenly brightened impossibly.kagura’s eyes widened fractionally in the same moment that the miko narrowed hers—in the same moment that a slow, tingling sensation swept across her skin like fine sweat; already too late.“let’s not talk about inuyasha, okay?”
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome/Kagura, Higurashi Kagome/Sesshoumaru
Comments: 12
Kudos: 43





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i really don’t know what possessed me to even consider this particular pairing (maybe bc im insatiably hard for a content rich f/f, and stuck inside to boot, idk) but here it is. tags will be updated with progress. crazily enough, this is my first inuyasha fic. hope it’s enjoyable. please review!

* * *

**_who has seen the wind?_ **

**_neither i nor you._ **

  
  


*

  
  
  
  


_kagome_.

kagura frowned as the name flickered across her mind, halting her thoughts. she sat up from her lounge. her brows tugged slowly inward as she neared the far outskirts of edo. sunset oranges seeped into the deep green treetops, gradually turning them impossibly golden as she cascaded stealthily along the summer evening’s buoyant gust. mere miles directly ahead, a thinning mist of steam rose from a jagged part in the forest canopy.

she had always been able to detect the girl’s aura easily, even with her typical proximity to the rest of inuyasha’s wretched group shrouding her presence. now, the bright ringing of kagome’s distinct aura was sharp and clear, carrying the faint scent of water and something unrecognizably sweet.

kagura reigned in her yoki lazily as she neared the clearing among the trees, the refreshingly sharp scent of scalding water billowing through her currents. she had been allowed out of naraku’s palace on the premise of patrolling for stray shards of the shikon no tama—the jewel in the spider hanyo’s possession was nearly complete, and she found that naraku’s restlessness towards completing the accursed thing worked in her favor. she’d been able to travel far and wide these last few moons, secretly enjoying herself.

a thin lick of disdain curled about her chest. surely she would not have to actually fulfill naraku’s quest so soon? kagura stilled her feather, turning her gaze towards to blushing edges of the horizon longingly as she considered the sudden situation before her.

the evening winds picked up, playing at her hair as it brought her the faint scent of saimyosho. kagura wrinkled her nose. the bothersome insect yokai were clustered amongst the branches of a distant pine, the insistent buzz of their wings loud and clear to her through the passing vibrations in the breeze.

 _of course,_ kagura thought darkly. if she had her heart, she knew that it would skip against her ribs at the spike of hatred that the reminders of her imprisonment brought forth. an increasingly familiar ache of apathy pulled at her insides. her choices being made _for_ her was so constantly prevalent that her initial defiance towards the notion had begun to feel something more like sinking resignation.

with a passive, graceful movement, she snapped the decorated brim of her tessen into place over her features. there was no guarantee that naraku was not immediately watching, a tired and manipulative trick that genuinely spoke to the spider hanyo’s nature. naraku knew very well that she would not risk the terror of his wrath, especially now.

kagura clenched her fist in her lap. should he so happen to find that she came upon the shikon fragments and did not make an attempt for them, she would likely be ripped into shreds and left to slowly rejuvenate in naraku’s cesspool of mindless yokai.

 _ah_ , she thought as she finally settled soundlessly amongst the high branches of an evergreen, the sound of gentle splashes reaching her easily. _she is bathing._

kagura ran her palm across the trunk of her chosen perch as she surveyed the area once again. to her continued surprise, not even that lively kit from inuyasha’s group was nearby. the girl was completely alone.

_curious._

a low chuckle bubbled in the back of her throat, but kagura only allowed the corner of her mouth to curl. _surely_ the kami jest. kagura had never been fortunate, this she knew in her marrow. she was born of evil. in this life, the gods would never deign to grace her with such an attribute.

and _yet..._

kagura briefly zeroed in on the presence of the shards, her focus growing as she managed to visually separate the pink aura of the jewel from kagome’s—the girl had never been without them for as long as kagura has been aware of her existence, and her aura swirled only a few shades deeper than the cursed object’s. _three or four shards,_ she summarized, enjoying the slow eddy that brought more of that unrecognizable sweet scent to her attention. _it will be so easy..._

a cadence of laughter, light and short, carried towards kagura. an abrupt ripple of water told her that the girl was likely washing her hair under the surface of the onsen, unknowingly creating a perfect chance for kagura to strike. kagura frowned at this—four long years of endless battles, and one would think that the girl would have learned better by now. she was not far, and yet the girl showed no signs of detecting her scarcely concealed yoki.

 _it’s her own fault, really_ , kagura thought as she dropped from the evergreen in a graceful glide forward, her bare feet barely brushing the dewy forest floor as she sailed through the treeline. she snapped her tessen as she landed on the outcropping of stone surrounding the small spring, painfully bored already.

 _no wonder inuyasha always seemed to be irritated with you during our fights_. kagura felt a drop of something angering spread as she watched the dark, buoying tresses of the shikon miko shift in the water. _choosing spiritual incompetence in times like these..._

kagura wondered briefly at the lingering disappointment hallowing her ribcage as she readied her fan; was this really the end? the saimyosho were closer now, and she could see that the girl was starting to emerge from under the strangely bubbled surface of the onsen. one clean cut, and she would be on her way with the shards.

on her way, back to naraku…

the top of the girl’s head rose from the water.

_now._

kagura’s eyes widened as a bright purple barrier shattered the sharp crescents of her blade dance, the white energy bursting into the misty air with a ringing, shimmering sound that hurt her ears. her power scattered and fell like shards of glass, and she watched, momentarily stunned, as the shikon miko calmly ran her fingers through the curling hair at her nape.

the barrier fell.

“you hesitated.” the miko pointed out blithely as she continued her slow ascent from the pool. “which means we are not enemies, at the least. i wondered when you would show yourself, kagura—i was starting to think that you were a peeping tom.”

 _how did..._ kagura’s canines scraped the inside of her lip as her mouth clicked shut. “what’s to see,” she grit out, forcing the confusion and disbelief shrouding her thoughts to not seep into her tone. she snapped her fan in irritation, gathered her yoki along its sharp edges. _how did she...?_ “i’m here for the shards. hand them over and i’ll be on my way.”

kagura’s gaze lifted from the string of jewels settled delicately against her collar bones, watched with boiling incredulousness as the miko’s shoulders heaved with a heavy put-upon sigh, her aura and her posture open and unbothered as she turned. she plucked a cloth from a pile near the edge of the onsen, and began to dry her hair.

“you’d dare turn your back on me?” kagura hissed, her hackles rising. _forget the shards_ , she seethed. for that action alone the girl would pay. “you truly are as stupid as your half-breed says.”

kagura flicked her wrist, the sudden dome of heaviness in the atmosphere escaping her. the surrounding canopy bowed in the sunset, the leaves rustling ominously and the woods creaking loudly as the warm, misty air around the onsen gave way to an icy tempest. the miko let out an indignant screech as the winds tossed her soaked locks, the towel flying out of her grasp in an upward swirl. kagura chuckled quietly in satisfaction and twirled, gathering sharp air along the line of her tessen as she spun. her dance of blades shot forward with quickness, and she grinned in triumph as another purple barrier thwarted the attack.

 _impressive._ kagura pivoted deftly as she cut through the air again, her deadly crescents hitting their mark. a loud, sizzling _crack_ echoed throughout the forest; the girl’s barrier split and shattered into another shower of sparks. _no matter,_ kagura thought vehemently as she darted forward, the wind at her feet adding a swiftness to her already blinding steps.

“got you,” she growled, letting the claws of her left hand sink into the still damp skin of the girl’s neck. she raised her tessen, poised for a killing blow as she bared her teeth at the naked miko. “last chance, girl.”

“hey, kagura?” the miko wheezed behind the demon’s firm hold. kagura watched with rapt attention as the girl’s pruned fingers wrapped around her clothed wrist, as her wild blue stare suddenly brightened impossibly.

kagura’s eyes widened fractionally in the same moment that the miko narrowed hers—in the same moment that a slow, tingling sensation swept across her skin like fine sweat; already too late.

“let’s not talk about inuyasha, okay?”

 _no._ kagura’s empty ribcage shuddered with an echo of minute fear. her fingers twitched around the girl’s neck, loosening—

too late.

a scorching wave of magenta holy energy washed out her vision.

 _no matter,_ she repeated sluggishly as her consciousness slipped away from her in a single, rapid wave. identical red eyes flashed briefly across her mind, and, distantly, from the crowding abyss, she could feel herself smile around her curdling scream.

she hadn’t wanted to go back, anyway.

  
  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m very happy with how this turned out. please review! (:

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*  
  


kagome had not been expecting kagura.

of course, she had paused briefly in her ministrations of her hair—worm oni, a first and hopefully the _last,_ ever—when she felt the distant and distinct aura of a yokai. the presence that had edged almost leisurely into the range of her senses had been buoyant and relaxed; unfamiliar. she had detected no immediate malicious intent in the demon, so she had simply gone back to detangling the last of the gunk out of her ends without worry.

it hadn’t taken long for the yokai to notice her; from what she had been able to tell, the yokai had been taking their path across the outskirts of edo via the treetops. kagome figured she’d be hard to miss, but it didn’t stop her from asking the kami to let her bathe in peace, even if it was just this once.

but a naked, human woman bathing all by herself in one of the thickest ends of edo’s forests? each part of her existence alone was enough to elicit some level five feudal era trouble. really, it had been no surprise when she’d noticed the yokai alter their course towards her.

_a pervert, great._ she laughed wryly to herself as the yokai settled nearby. she’d started shampooing her hair vigorously, then. the sooner she finished cleaning the lengthening mass the sooner she could either be on her way or give the yokai a piece of her mind.

just as she’d dipped her head under the water, the yokai came forward with unexpected speed. kagome scrubbed her fingers along her scalp, had feigned total calmness as she’d felt the yokai’s aura stop just behind her. she remembers the confusion that had flickered across her thoughts at that point—the yokai was upon her, but no ill intent had sparked her full worry. the aura behind her was as relaxed as ever, so much so that she had even briefly considered the possibility of being able to talk her way out of the situation.

she was almost sure that she could; right up until she had begun rising from under the water.

between a patch of strawberry pink shampoo bubbles, the reflection of the all too familiar _dance of blades_ rippled across the surface. a second later and her barrier would’ve been useless. before she knew it, kagome was blasting kagura unconscious, scrambling to adjust their sudden combined weight so that they wouldn’t fall headfirst and into the onsen.

_had kagura’s aura always felt that way?_ she’d wondered.

it had taken forever for her to carry the sorceress back to her camp in addition to all of her toiletries, and even longer to double back and kill naraku’s damned wasp oni. now, kagome sat in front of a fire, dressed in dark, fitting pants and an old cotton shirt, waiting for her kettle to boil while she hastily wrung out her hair.

“that was my _last_ towel.” she grumbled to the sleeping wind sorceress. kagome had propped her up against a tree on the far side of the small clearing three hours ago, close enough to hit with an arrow and far enough for her to strategically retreat if need be. it hadn’t escaped her that kagura had broken her barrier so easily after the first time her attack didn’t land. even though she was sure that she’d pumped enough purity into kagura to leave her reeling for at least a full day, kagome was no longer the kind of girl to take unnecessary risks.

the moon was out now, the sky bright with stars and the woods darkened with shadows. kagome added a handful of the sticks she had gathered earlier to the fire, spreading the glow past the tree line of the clearing so that she could finish her evening chores. she tried not to fume too much; kagura interrupting her had put her behind schedule on daylight, but it’s not like she had much on her to do list to begin with. she just preferred being better prepared for night time in the sengoku jidai, especially when she travelled alone—and she’d been doing a lot of _that,_ lately.

kagome tied off the ends of her hair with red-tipped white ribbon, a recent gift. she split her lengthening tresses into two messy braids, seeing as how she no longer had the time to properly brush the mass out. she stood, deftly securing her worn holstered belt from her pack and quickly lacing up her hiking boots. tying her quiver to her hip and securing her bow over her shoulder, she opted to leave her daggers, another recent gift, in her bag. she was sure that she would not need them.

the sliced fish she’d tied up to dry before bathing was to her liking, and she wasted no time preparing it for the fire. the vegetables nicked from kaede’s garden just that morning and a ramen packet made for a quick stew. kagome left her meal to cook and prepared for bed, laying out her sleeping bag and setting seals into a select few of the surrounding trees so that her barrier would hold while she took her rest.

kagome ate slowly, wishing she had thought to pick a shoot of ginger or turmeric from the fields on her way out of the village of edo. her fish was a little on the bland side, and the modern part of her couldn’t help but wish that her meals were a little less threadbare.

“wah,” she complained to herself quietly as she chewed a piece of fillet. “i miss mama’s cooking…”

the wind blew through the clearing suddenly. kagome stilled, just as she bit into a fish bone. slowly, after a moment of pause, she reached for an arrow from her quiver. she let the finely crafted shaft slide cooly through her fingers until the arrowhead was within her grasp, and she tongued the bone past her lip so that she could spit it into the fire. _one of miroku’s habits,_ she chided herself briefly.

the faint pulse of presence that her senses picked up told her that kagura was waking, but she knew that the moment the trees had rustled. her history with the demon was nearing half a decade long, and there were certain things about her that kagome would not possibly forget; the notion that kagura was the literal wind was one of these things, as kagome had long ago found the recurring claim to be entirely true. 

she was one of the first spawns of naraku, after all. the fact that kagura could often laugh at an attack like the _wind scar_ was a lone testimony to her true ranking as a threat. 

kagome placed her piece of fish on her straw-woven plate.

“i’m alive?” kagura’s voice was soft and raspy, tinted with genuine shock.

“your heart isn’t here, kagura.” kagome laughed without mirth, and ignored kagura’s abrupt flinch in favor of picking the missed bones out of her fish with the tip of her arrow. “i couldn’t have really killed you if i’d tried.”

“shikon no miko…”

“i am surprised that you are awake,” kagome stated plainly, eyes resolutely on her task. she noted that hearing her title from _kagura_ of all people was something to think on. “i used quite a bit of holy energy on you. i expected you to wake near noon, at best.”

a warm breeze brushed against her cheeks, and kagome glanced upward to find kagura’s shoulders shaking with a silent chuckle. 

cinnabar eyes locked with sapphire. “you certainly seem to have grown stronger since we last met, miko.” kagura admitted. kagome watched the demon pull back the sleeve of her kimono, inspecting the blackened and deteriorating flesh of her forearm. there were long, jagged lines of purple leading toward kagura’s fingers and up her bicep; the blood in her veins, petrified by kagome’s forceful blast. kagura held her gaze once again, a shadow of reluctant curiosity weighing her brow.

“ _much_ stronger.” kagura tsk’d, as if kagome had been withholding the information from her on purpose. she lowered her arm, and turned her red gaze into the forest. something tense underlined her tone. “the saimyosho?”

another thing that kagome would not forget about kagura: her abhorrence for her creator. it had been one of the supporting reasons for kagome to bring the demon into the haven of her camp instead of leaving her for rot in the first place. that, and the well of sadness that washed over her when she thought of kagura’s previous attempts to help them along in destroying naraku. the sorceress had peddled her desire to be rid of the evil spider from the very beginning, and her story was a sorrowful one that kagome had never been able to fully ignore.

_still…_

“i made sure to purify each one of them. you don’t need to worry about there being more,” kagome said. “we might normally be foes, kagura, but you are protected from _him_ here.”

“here?” kagura asked, and kagome could see her brow furrow further.

“with me.” kagome clarified. she pushed a bit of power into her barrier, a warning, making it shimmer and flicker before fading out of view. “i’m stronger now, remember?”

kagura’s chuckle was audible this time, but she said nothing else as she continued to stare into the woods.

kagome took a tentative bite of her fish—boneless—as she watched kagura do nothing from the corner of her eye. the demon’s aura was calm. satisfied, she tucked into her dinner swiftly, downing the fillet and the broth from her stew with hearty gulps. she cleaned after herself, dutifully organizing her supplies for a quick clean up once morning came. when she was finished, she sat at the end of her sleeping bag, her gaze trained on kagura’s motionless form as she idly twirled her arrow between her fingers. 

it appeared that she wouldn’t be getting any sleep at all tonight.

after a beat, kagome leaned forward to poke at her fire. she realized that her mind was already going a mile a minute, and it took a better part of her will than she cared to admit as to not launch a barrage of inquiries at the peculiar demon sitting quietly at the end of her camp. 

kagome eyed the deep strikes of purple along kagura’s terribly singed hand, reluctant guilt pulling her lips into a thin line. the more she looked, the more she recognized that there was an undercurrent of physical pain in the demon’s aura. it bothered kagome that she’d been the cause, despite not at all regretting her act of defense.

“your curiosity is palpable, miko. say what you want.”

_an opening?_ kagome hoped her surprise didn’t bleed into her voice too much. “what are you looking at?”

“ask your _real_ questions, girl.” kagura drawled impatiently, unmoving.

kagome grinned to herself. an invitation to do as she pleased always went over better, no matter how it came to be delivered. 

“i _do_ want to know what you’re looking at, but if you’d rather tell me what you’re doing so close to edo then i am all ears.”

kagura turned to kagome and blinked at her owlishly, an almost innocent expression that made kagome wonder.

“”all ears”?” kagura repeated the phrase haltingly, but she huffed as the wording seemed to make some sense to her after a moment. kagome held back her giggle and worked to bring the grin on her face to a polite smile of encouragement as kagura seemed to gather her thoughts.

the treetops started to stir. kagome sat her arrow at her feet and waited. 

her heart skipped oddly when kagura turned to her, a beautiful, blissful grin pulling at her mouth. her cinnabar eyes glittered, and her tone was as sweet as wind chimes when she finally spoke her answer.

“ _nothing_.”

  
  
  
  
  



	3. Chapter 3

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*  
  


_i’m alive?_

kagura swallowed the last of her scream with a silent gasp as she finally managed to regain her consciousness. the sound had been stuck in her throat, unfinished, as she had fought to keep lingering tendrils of holy energy from destroying her mind completely. in the abyss, she’d concluded that it would do no good for her body to regenerate if her mind was sent back to naraku. it took all she had.

 _damn that miko_ , she thought as she opened her eyes to starry skies and swaying treetops. _where has she been hiding all of that power_ …?

she swung her hazy gaze over her immediate surroundings, unseeing, but the searing pain in her arm allowed her to sharpen her focus. her teeth sank into her lip as she registered the feeling. it was sweeping through her veins and towards her chest like a river of lava. she could hear her flesh, still sizzling, as it tried and failed to regenerate.

was her body going to heal?

“shikon no miko…” she cursed to herself.

“i am surprised that you are awake,” _kagome_ , her struggling senses supplied with surprising clarity. “i used quite a bit of holy energy on you. i expected you to wake near noon, at best.”

 _funny_. kagura’s shoulders racked with a wave of pain. _it is as if the girl gives no regard to the knowledge of my nature_. kagura turned her head and caught the girl’s impossible blue stare. the girl was set away from her across a cooking fire, calmly picking the bones out of a piece of fish with her fletching. true mirth pulled at kagura’s mouth, then. she was no fool. she knew what that arrow meant.

kagura’s stare settled on the chained slivers of jewels against the miko’s taut collar bones.

at once, disdain curled in her chest next to the river of pain. she suddenly recalled what happened between them vividly; her attempt to collect the shikon shards had not at all been easy. it had been perilous, and a failure. she had wrongly assumed the girl to remain unchanged since they’d last crossed paths; over a season ago, now. the skirmish had almost cost her her consciousness.

kagura had thoroughly underestimated the girl. did that not make her _foolish_?

“you are much stronger.” kagura narrowed her eyes at the shikon no miko, doing little to hide her temper. she pulled back the sleeve of her kimono, refusing to give voice to the pain or the sudden swell of panic that riddled her at the full sight of the horrifying, reiki-infected flesh. her glare hardened when she looked to the girl again, tenfold. accusatory. “ _much_ stronger.”

kagura let her sleeve fall, just as she let her hands to her lap, and turned her gaze to the forest. her mind was still too hazy to be of proper use, and the barrier her wounded yoki encountered was near impenetrable in her state. she could sense almost nothing. the currents were muffled to her.

was she trapped?

“the saimyosho?” she found herself asking impatiently.

“you needn’t worry. they are dead.” kagome’s tone was plain, and kagura’s nose detected no trace of falsehoods under the girl’s unfamiliar sweet scent. “you’re protected from him, here.”

 _we aren’t enemies, at least._ kagura remembered the girl’s words, and forgot to feel annoyed at her sudden relief. 

“protected.” she said flatly, disbelieving. “here?”

“with _me_.” kagome answered, examining her food.

a ripple of power passed through the barrier, bringing the dome to life with a swirling array of startling bluish purples and pinks, flickering and fading. a warning.

an empty laugh tumbled from kagura’s mouth at the girl’s apparent newfound audacity. she cut the sound short abruptly. it _hurt_.

kagura returned her stare to the woods and sagged heavily against the tree at her back. the flash of panic returned with a slow wave of her otherwise repressed senses. the sizzling of her flesh was as loud as the crackling fire, now. the remnants of holy energy making its way through her blood was as frightening as it was leisurely. it reminded her of poison; for she was of yokai, and to her, that is what it was. her body would steadily meet its end if she did not find a way to purge the damned power, but she recognized that she could, in fact, do _damn_ all in the face of it. her yoki was occupied with keeping her mind about her, currently far too fragile to do more than act as a thin buffer, let alone be used to forcibly expel the energy from her person.

kagura pushed a cirrus of her yoki toward the surface, because she would always, at least, try. pain laced through her quickly. the shikon no miko’s lingering reiki set her own power blistering. kagura’s lip pulled over her teeth in an angry snarl. the smell of her yoki being purified was acrid, and the reaction was immediate; her brow furrowed as she swallowed a growl of agony. why the reiki crept through her flesh but acted instantly towards her yoki, she did not know. she found, flippantly, despite the rising tide of panic, that she did not care. this was of her own fault.

 _it would seem that i_ am _a fool_ , she thought.

the hair rose on the nape of kagura’s neck, and she stilled. even if her senses were dulled, she was _yokai_ , and her instincts would never fail her. she was being observed.

“speak or reign your curiosity, miko.” she said crisply. 

“what are you looking at?”

the innocent question made kagura blink. yes, she had been staring off into the woods for a while now, hadn’t she? yet she could not see or feel past the outer edges of the surrounding barrier. kagura frowned.

“ask your _real_ questions.” she corrected.

“if you’d rather tell me what you’re doing so close to edo, then i am all ears.”

blazing sapphire met cold cinnabar. kagura paused shortly at the girl’s unusual wording, having heard odd phrases from the miko before, but decided that she ultimately understood what her words meant. it was the thinly veiled threat in the miko’s voice that truly grabbed her attention. 

kagura allowed herself an amused huff as she gathered her thoughts.

what had she been doing, before coming upon that jagged break in the canopy? the memory of sunset, bright and warm against her entire being, flooded her mind. the feel of the easy summer breeze brushing lovingly through her bangs as she cascaded along, fingers dancing an old dance over the downy edges of her feathers. the air, thick with enticing smells that told her everything and nothing at all. the saimyosho, unhurried as they’d trailed far behind her while she’d pretended to see to her task.

kagura could not resist the smile that split her lips.

“ _nothing_.” she answered blissfully, lost in the memory, faltering as she wished that she could feel the currents, now. her voice tapered off into a near whisper. “nothing at all…”

“forgive me, kagura,” kagome started. something in her voice caught kagura’s attention, and she watched the girl’s face carefully. “i do not believe you.”

kagura wanted to laugh, truly. she held the feeling tightly in her throat, determined not to disrupt the modicum of comfort that had finally settled into her body. 

“it is of no consequence, miko. it is only right that you don’t, ne?” kagura offered kagome a rueful smile and continued. ever strangely, she felt no reason to lie. “naraku seeks the last of the shikon shards. this you know. there were rumors from the west, and i have been sent to search for them there. i did not hope to find any...”

she’d let the sentence trail purposefully. the miko’s features were carefully blank, even as they belied her apt attention. 

“you will not lie, then.”

kagura raised an eyebrow at the statement. “i do not have the energy.”

something terse flickered across the girl’s fire-lit eyes, gone before kagura could give it a name. _no matter_ , she thought as she returned her gaze to the trees.

“what waits in the west?” 

“these rumors… they speak of an oni in the crevices of the far valleys. it… it is said that the oni possesses two fragments.” kagura found that the answer came haltingly. this was not information that came easily shared.

she looked to the miko across the camp fire sharply, silently dared to allow a hope that the girl would pick out the meaning of her honesty. she had bitterly sought aid against naraku from inuyasha’s group before, and she was almost painfully aware of the shikon no miko’s caring nature. the girl was alone, but she wasn’t just a _girl_ anymore—she was a mystery reborn, veiled with a thick coat of power that shined like the shikon itself—suddenly, seemingly worthy of her title.

the girl had also shed some of her passive tendencies. the sickly burn eroding away at her flesh made that truth as clear to kagura as any scent would.

“i have heard these rumors.” kagome nodded, then, as she ran her fingers over the ribbon in her hair, “they are true.”

kagura kept her silence, even as her lips parted just so in surprise. she had not expected the girl to be so forthcoming. she realized then, wholly and abruptly, that she did not _know_ the guardian of the shikon jewel. the reality of that fact washed over the remnants of her consciousness. she had been rendered to nothing so very easily, yet woke not only unharmed, but perpetually _protected_ was testimony to that startling lack of knowledge. 

“then you must be heading west.” kagura summarized shortly.

“i am.” kagome flashed a smile.

kagura clicked her teeth together; her lips forming a thin line. it was painful, she realized, to be thrown so terribly off balance. to be forced to hold her breath.

“of course you are,” she murmured steadily after her lapse. “you are the shikon no miko. it would not at all be strange for you to collect the jewel shards before _i_ can find them.”

kagome’s eyes narrowed at her, and silence stretched between them as they held each other’s gaze. kagura found herself tilting forward as she stared. just as sudden as her realization about kagome, or lack thereof, an abrupt thirst to _study_ her swelled within her chest. kagome’s eyes, such an unusual shade for a human—a fleeting thought she’d had many times before now—they captivated her in the shadows of the firelight. her aura, a solid thrum that aligned with the nature around them in seemingly perfect harmony, became a balm to kagura’s wounded yoki the longer she sat within its swaying range.

_what is this feeling?_

kagura exhaled slowly, cursing to herself. the intensity of her curiosity confused her, yet not more than the deep lack of information that met her when she scented the air in a bid to satisfy it.

she truly could not sense beyond the miko’s thrum. the currents that would have spoken to her, would have brought her the girl’s scent and told her _everything,_ was buffering against the barrier, shaking the canopy above them in the wake of her need.

“kagura.” the shikon no miko’s tone was low and imploring; a sharp and deliberate crack in her reverie.

a distant tug echoed behind kagura’s ribs at the state of her name. an inkling of that unidentified something wanted nothing more than to answer the silent call. 

kagura bit back a growl. her instincts, slow, sent a whisper of warning through her bones. “what is it, miko?”

“why do you fight us?”

“fr—“ _freedom_.

a strike of heat ran down kagura’s back as she hushed; she dared to shift, a silent wheeze whisking past her lips in her discomfort. the word had almost tumbled from her lips automatically, but she managed to stop herself. just moments ago, the fact that she was heartless had been tossed at her mirthlessly, and here she was, nearly making light conversation.

 _what is she playing at? she knows_ , _yet she asks_ … _then_ _she_ _looks at me like_ that... kagura thought. she returned the miko’s narrowed stare, her jaw tense with the effort to hold her tongue.

 _something is not right_ , she concluded sluggishly. sweat began to pepper her brow as she searched carefully with her compressed senses. _something is not right_.

“will you answer?” 

“y—ye—“ _yes_. kagura’s lips trembled, and ire bubbled up rapidly along her spine. she latched onto the sentiment in the hopes that it would help clear her mind. that urge to answer, to eagerly give into the beacon of the miko’s simple request, found her desperate _quickly_. 

the miko let out a quiet sigh. “it’s easier if you just answer.”

_what is this feeling?!_

pain split down the side of her head, sending bright pink stars scattering across her vision; kagura grunted hoarsely when she nicked her tongue with her own fang from the onslaught of pressure. blood spilled over her mouth, and the nasty copper tang managed to ground her. she dropped her blurring gaze to her covered arm, where the miko’s reiki was creeping ever higher. indignation settled next to her ire then, swift and hot as the thought struck her: it was the purity, edged against her youki and clambering dangerously upwards through the ley lines of her body. it was compelling the truth out of her. forcing her compliance.

leaching her of her _choice_.

_this power…_

so quickly was she sick of her awe. kagura shuddered, swallowed painfully around the lump of fear that formed in her throat, shoved it deeply into the recess of her reforming mind; lest naraku decided to try and examine her wellbeing, barrier be damned. she needed to get angry, to gain some semblance of control of her emotions so that she could focus and _fight_ , so that she could repel the doings of the miko’s reiki at any costs.

already, she realized that it would be futile. she was breathless and injured, and surrounded by a holy energy that had already put the rank smell of fear into her own scent.

“miko.” kagura raised her eyes to kagome’s face, startled wildly at the blank dismissal that had smoothed over the girl’s features; confusion, again, robbed kagura of her steady breaths. where had she seen that look before? why did it hurt?

“what have you done to me?” kagura wheezed. “what have you done?”

“i have asked you questions. you gave me permission, remember?” the miko’s tone was flat, smoother than the shadows in her stormy sapphire stare. “you gave me permission, but you have not answered...”

“you—oh, the kami _do_ jest! what are you doing to me?! _where_ did you _—what_ do you gain by asking a question to which you know the answer!” kagura spat, gasped, and fixed her snarl into a belligerent flash of teeth at the bits of truth that leaked into her words. “it is none of your concern as it is, _girl_ —you need not pretend to _care_ so much. i do not need your _pity_. _release me_!”

a single eyebrow rose to the miko’s hairline. familiarity that she could not place struck at kagura’s waning core. 

“‘pity’? _release_ you? kagura, is that a joke? it’s not very funny, you know.” the miko tsk’d. “we may not be enemies, but you are rather dangerous. do not think that i’m silly enough to ignore our past simply because you are _weakened_. if anything…”

kagura’s body shuddered at the shift in tone, the movement staggering the syrupy pain in her chest and making her heave wetly. her body would not _budge_ ; her fear spiked abruptly as she watched the shikon no miko stand and carefully cross the camp. holy energy crackled and danced across the blue hues of the barrier as kagome stopped a mere breath before her. kagura’s eyes widened as the energy collected in a ray of static, appeared in cloying bolts of lightning between the miko’s fingers, along the generous tips of her human nails.

“if _anything_ ,” the miko said. “i should kill you now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *spirit fingers*


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

_*_

_“who are you, but a human, to ask anything of the lord sesshomaru?”_

_kagome leveled her gaze with sesshomaru’s in stony silence, hoping that her distaste for his choice of words was clear in the narrowing of her eyes. it had been a long way from edo, and they had argued terribly when they’d met last. she’d considered arguing again when she ended up waiting twenty whole minutes for an audience with him, just to be brought to the throne room instead of escorting herself to the gardens where she’d known him to be. she was tired, her legs hurt, and she wanted to bathe. truthfully, she did not have the patience for his games._

_“i’m your friend, remember?” she gave in, anyway._

_“a term i never agreed to, miko.”_

_“you know what my name is.”_

_“is a human miko not what you are?”_

_“ka-go-me.”_

_she’d caught the amusement in the shadow of his eye, familiar from other days of arguing and watching rin._

_“what do you want, human miko kagome?”_

_“a favor.”_

_silence._

_“...do you understand the weight of such a want?” sesshomaru’s amusement was gone, only impenetrable ice left in the wake._

_kagome bowed slowly, her eyes never leaving his. they had argued over the severity of favor once before._

_“yes, lord.”_

_silence again, contemplating and as heavy as the slate of sesshomaru’s golden gaze._

_“impress me, shikon no miko,” the lord of the western lands told her. “and this sesshomaru will aid you.”_

  
  
  


kagome took in a slow, measured breath to ease her nerves as the memory edged from her mind. she observed the demon across her campfire. the spell she was performing was taxing, and required careful measurement of her reiki outputs.

the weight of her wariness had not simply increased at the sound of naraku’s name; it had abruptly shocked her from the thin layer of comfort that came from kagura’s calm, indifferent demeanor. so opposite from her origin that her aura alone set confusion across kagome’s senses. 

but _naraku_ —the familiar chill of fear and disdain had washed over the back of kagome’s throat in swift waves, begging her to sharpen the edges of her urge for altruism. kagome had run a finger over the cool silk of the red-tipped ribbon in her hair, then. calculating gold eyes had flashed before her mind, an anchor, a firm reminder of her purpose and her path _._ a plan had quickly formulated in her mind at the sound of evil’s name.

from the moment that kagura had verbally agreed to not lie, her departed reiki, the very pink tendrils of power that she could see creeping eerily up kagura’s veins—tearing away steadily and mercilessly at her borrowed flesh—had brightened in her mind's eye, and sent a delicate pulse through her blood that signaled her spell’s activation. she needed permission to compel the truth out of yokai, and kagura had given it to her easily.

“what lies in the west?” kagome asked. she knew, of course—she could feel the shards at such a large radius, these days—but it never hurt to test the waters when magic was at work, especially hers. kagome realized quickly that her spell was indeed working, though kagura’s resistance was impressive. she watched the wind demon’s dissipating aura buffer uselessly against hers before snapping at her reiki in anger.

kagome nodded patiently when kagura spoke of the rumors from the western valleys, confirming that she was indeed headed west when the demon asked. the other thing about gaining truth was the equivalent exchange of giving it.

“i am,” she told her. then: “why do you fight us?”

and kagome _knew_ , of course—she could feel it all around her, how the energy of the winds outside of her barrier brushed turbulently against her aura—but this was _naraku,_ and she needed to be absolutely sure.

“fr—“ _eedom_ , the wind hissed and kagura’s lips trembled. it shocked kagome how quickly the demon caught on. “what have you done to me?” kagura snarled. “release me!”

“is that a joke?” kagome asked the question without mirth, with whiplash annoyance and irony and in the name of the desired effect she hoped her magic would give her. “ _i should just kill you now_.”

kagome’s fingers crackled with a brilliant display of electric blue, and she pushed the power into her spell. a thousand emotions screamed back at her when her reiki touched against kagura’s aura; her flesh. shock, hatred, confusion, resignation, fear. the feeling pawed at her. kagura shut her eyes and fixed her mouth into an agonizing howl for help.

“i want to live.” she whispered. _“i want to die.”_

 _freedom!_ the wind cried.

a sob was lodged painfully in the back of kagome’s throat, and it only tightened at the demon’s words. she grit her teeth and touched her fingers to kagura’s forehead, over her heart, tipped her back and asked her last question, the most vital question to her impromptu scheme—one she knew would hurt the most, inside and out.

“kagura.” copper tang touched kagome’s tongue. she could only whisper back as the demon’s wet cinnabar eyes met hers. _“where is your heart?”_

the answer did not come in words, but rather a shuffling of memory that took her mind to oceans of spiritual past that she had not at all expected. kagome shook as she cascaded through dark hills and dimensions where the sun doesn’t rise. it took everything she had not to collapse under the dizziness of absorbing the _history_ of someone into her soul.

then, finally: the image of a bag, soaked with blood. the feeling of _where_.

the howling stops, the sway of the treetops deathly still as kagura crumples into a lifeless heap. kagome props kagura’s weight against the tree and retracts her reiki in its entirety. a watery grin pulls at her mouth, etched with the remnants of windy sorrow that is not her own.

_impress me, shikon no miko._

this will work.


End file.
